One family flees Texas for safer climate for their transgender daughter

Ess Welsh spent her complete life in Texas. It’s the place she fell in love with marching band, the place she discovered a neighborhood of fellow Dungeons and Dragons gamers, and the place she confronted the looming risk of her family being investigated for baby abuse.

In February, Gov. Greg Abbott instructed the Texas Department of Family Protective and Services to analyze households offering their transgender youngsters with gender-affirming care. The directive continues to be in legal limbo.

For the Welsh family, leaving Texas means dealing with enormous monetary dangers, severing neighborhood ties, and breaking bonds with trusted therapists and care suppliers. However, staying carries the specter of investigations, family separation and a lack of the essential gender-affirming medical care that main medical organizations have deemed medically obligatory.

The Welsh family was simply considered one of many grappling with this tough resolution.

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